The development of local marketplaces enables sellers to expand their businesses abroad without having to open branches in other countries. E-commerce platforms have a big advantage over online shops in that they can help retailers build their brands' visibility in a new market. Moreover, they are very effective in attracting new customers. Cdiscount.com is one of the most popular marketplaces in the French market – one of European and global leaders.
What are you going to read about in our article on Cdiscount?
- A Leading Marketplace on the French Market
- Why Is It Worthwhile to Sell on Cdiscount??
- How to Start Selling on Cdiscount?
- How Does Selling at Cdiscount Work?
- Costs Related to Selling on Cdiscount.com
- Building Brand Awareness in the French Market
A Leading Marketplace on the French Market
The French e-commerce market is ranked 3rd in Europe and 6th in the world in terms of sales volume.
By the end of 2023, estimated e-commerce market revenues there will reach US$ 91,645.5 million. It will constitute an increase of 18.1% in comparison to 2022.
It is also worth noting that more than half (60-70%) of the French do not buy products offered on foreign websites. The situation stems from a lack of trust in unknown brands from other countries.
On the other hand, the French are very keen to use large e-commerce platforms. Amazon is the undisputed leader here, but local sites are also growing in popularity.
As Statista.com reports,
Cdiscount is currently the second most popular marketplace on the French e-commerce market.
Furthermore, the platform’s financial results demonstrate that it is constantly growing. In 2022, Cdiscount’s turnover was €2.2 billion, an increase of 8.6% compared to 2019 (source:
WebRetailer).
Why Is It Worthwhile to Sell on Cdiscount?
Cdiscount.com gives us the opportunity to target our offer to a large group of potential buyers. The platform has 10.2 million active users, including 2 million subscribers. Furthermore, the site receives an average of 23 million visitors per month.
Interestingly, there are only around 15,000 sellers for such a big number of visitors, so the competition remains relatively low. This means there is a great potential for finding customers for our products.
Moreover, products on Cdiscount.com are available within 40 general categories and 2,000 subcategories. All these circumstances will make it easier for us to identify our “niche” and offer our commodities to a precisely targeted group.
What are the most popular products?
Cdiscount offers products from virtually every category, but as much as 28.5% of the total sales made by this platform concerns the electronics and computer sectors. Household appliances, furniture, clothing, cosmetics, and alcohol also sell well.
How to Start Selling on Cdiscount.com?
To become a seller on Cdiscount, you must meet the following conditions:
- be a registered trader in your country, declared to the relevant tax authorities, and have a valid VAT number,
- maintain key indicators at an appropriate level – for example, a customer complaint rate of 1% or less and an on-time delivery rate of 99%.
The second point is extremely important. Each account must be individually approved, and Cdiscount reserves the right to make any decision confidentially and without specifying the criteria applied.
In addition, the retailer must provide French-speaking customer service and have a return address in France. Alternatively, they can send the customer return labels. These will cover the costs of international shipping.
Once approval is received, one can begin selling products.
The biggest advantage for sellers on Cdiscount is that there are no limits or sales obligations. You can also post offers for free. Listings can be added
en masse using a CSV spreadsheet or the API.
A further advantage of Cdiscount is that there are no restrictions on the countries of origin of sellers or buyers. However, you must keep in mind that all listing contents must be in French.
Do you need help to fulfil Cdiscount’s criteria for French-language customer support and listing contents? Get in touch with our specialists.
How Does Selling at Cdiscount Work?
Sellers can count on the support of Cdiscount staff thanks to a strongly developed help panel. If a consumer encounters a problem with an order, they should first contact the site’s support. In the event of a conflict, the platform offers mediation.
Similarly to Amazon, the French marketplace also offers a storage service called
Cdiscount Fulfilment.
Furthermore, we can take advantage of the free shipping option, the equivalent of Amazon Prime –
Cdiscount à Volonté.
The logistics centres of Cdiscount.com are located at several points. Their total storage area amounts to more than 500,000 m2. Under this model, the platform takes over the entire delivery process, including storage, packing, shipping, and transport. It is also worth noting that the
Fulfilment service is free for the first two weeks.
It is worth mentioning that our partners,
Idosell and
Baselinker, also offer Cdiscount integration services to facilitate the management of the entire supply chain.
Octopia – access to the SaaS platform as part of the subscription fee
We can use the
Fulfilment service thanks to
Octopia, a scalable SaaS technology platform. It was developed by a company belonging to the Casino Group, the owner of Cdiscount.
In addition to the logistics services, Octopia offers access to several sales channels. Entrepreneurs selling goods through the Cdiscount platform can easily register for new channels in the Seller panel. Traders have an internal agreement with Cdiscount that makes it easy for them to transfer their listings to marketplaces in other countries. This includes marketplaces in Norway, Finland, Sweden, or Spain.
Every seller on the platform is welcome to use this solution as part of a subscription. The Octopia API gives us access to easy invoicing, customer feedback & complaints handling, and more.
Costs Related to Selling on Cdiscount.com
Before we start selling on a particular platform, it is important to understand the costs involved. The billing rules for Cdiscount are the same as for the previously mentioned Amazon. This means that each seller is obliged to pay a monthly subscription fee (EUR 39.99) and a commission on sales. The amount varies from 5-20%, depending on the product category. The exact commission rate can be calculated
here.
Building Brand Awareness in the French Market
Cdiscount stands out from other marketplaces for its high visibility on social media (Twitter, Instagram) and the large number of people following their accounts. It is important to note that hey have over 1.65 million followers on Facebook! As such, this marketplace is primarily recommended for new brands who strive to to build their visibility.
In addition, the platform offers a PPP programme
(Pole Position Program). The scheme helps sellers increase the visibility of their brands. It can do so by driving traffic to their listings or enabling them to get product reviews.
Conclusions
The French market is an attractive opportunity for any seller. However, it is difficult to win the trust of its 55 million consumers, who are characterised by a strong distrust of online shops belonging to unknown foreign brands. As such, we have the best chance of building up our position on the French market if we use their big marketplaces. Cdiscount is less popular than a global leader like Amazon. Yet, it is an easier place for new sellers to establish themselves. The platform is very popular among native social media users, which gives us a good opportunity to familiarise the French consumers with our brand. And this is already the first step to conquering this significant European market!
Do you want to succeed in France thanks to Cdiscount? Write to us, together we will develop a sales strategy tailored to this marketplace!
